Do ratmen dream of the sacred tree of spirits?

Chapter 96 Illness

Everything is going well. Fafnir has been in a good mood lately. After Martha and Allen mastered the first-tier Water Ball spell, Fafnir gained a net benefit of two spiritual caps. He also successfully purchased "call options" from the "ledger" to build a temporary guiding framework for the Wind Blade for Martha and Allen. Fafnir set the time limit to "30 days" this time because the Wind Blade is relatively difficult.

With October more than halfway over, the wind in Lorraine was already chilly. In a few days, Fafnir's eleventh birthday would arrive. Fafnir had been thinking from time to time about whether he should leave the Holy Kingdom for the Narns Empire in the future. Although he had only been separated from his parents for a month, he really missed them. Should he write a letter to Mr. Victor to ask him about it?

But leaving the Holy Land meant giving up many things, and he might not have any connection with this place for a very long time. Fafnir was conflicted. Never mind, he decided to go to class first; morning classes were starting today.

-

Upon arriving at the classroom, Fafnir greeted the students and then began to tell them about "The Commandments of the Church of the God of Death." Fafnir believed that the booklet was short and contained some interesting backstories, making it suitable for these third-term students. In addition, as a teaching material, "The Commandments" was printed in large quantities and was found everywhere in the church. Fafnir had previously given the students a bunch of brand-new copies.

"Eileen, what's wrong? If you're sick, go to the headmaster's office and take a nap. There's a recliner there; Tyrell bought it a while ago. You can go home early this afternoon too, it's okay."

Fafner sensed that Erin was acting strangely today. From the moment she stepped into the classroom, she slumped over her desk, her face buried in her arms, completely listless. He initially thought it was just Erin being sleepy, but as the class was almost over, Fafner remembered that she usually sat upright and well-behaved. Could she be sick?

Fafnir walked to her desk, gently touched her shoulder, and softly called, "Eileen?"

She slowly raised her head.

Fafnir was stunned. Eileen's face was red, an unnatural redness. Her lips were chapped, and her pupils were clouded.

"Teacher—" Eileen's voice was hoarse: "I'm feeling a little unwell."

2

Fafner reached out and touched her forehead; it was frighteningly hot.

This was no ordinary fever. Although Fafnir did not have a thermometer, the temperature was clearly abnormal.

"When did it start?" Fafnir asked.

"Last night—" Eileen's voice trailed off, "Headache—I felt weak—"

My mom told me to hang in there.

Fafner recalled Eileen's family situation: her father was an alcoholic who had previously beaten her severely, and her mother worked in the laundry room and was never home from morning till night.

"Eileen, please don't start class yet," Fafnir helped her up from her seat. Eileen swayed as she stood up and almost lost her balance, so Fafnir quickly grabbed her arm.

"Class is adjourned early," Fafnir announced to the students present.

Fafnir helped her out of the classroom. As they walked down the corridor, several students peeked out. Martha saw them, came out of the next classroom, and frowned when she saw Eileen's appearance.

"Fafner, what happened?"

"She seems to have a fever; her forehead is very hot," Fafner said. "Let's take her to the office to rest for a while."

Martha walked over and touched Eileen's forehead, her expression changing: "Should we take her to the hospital?"

"Let's see how things go," Fafnir said.

The two helped Eileen to the principal's office on the second floor and let her lie down on a recliner. Fafnir found a clean towel in his office, soaked it in cold water, and placed it on her forehead.

Eileen's eyes were closed, her breathing was heavy, her chest heaving, and her lips were dry and chapped. Martha poured her a glass of water, helped her sit up and drink a couple of sips, and then she lay back down.

"Fafner," Martha said in a low voice, "I don't think this is right. A normal fever wouldn't cause this."

Fafnir nodded, activated his spiritual vision, and looked at Eileen.

Her spiritual aura was faint, like most ordinary people, and the grayish-white mist was so thin that it was almost invisible. But Fafnir noticed something: beneath that grayish-white mist, there were extremely fine black threads moving about, as if something was gnawing at her already meager spirituality.

Fafnir's heart sank; he had never seen anything like it before. "Martha, you watch over her. I'm going to find Sister Fanning," Fafnir said.

"it is good."

Fafnir strode out of the school, flagged down a carriage at the alley entrance, and headed straight for the grammar school. In the library, Sister Fanning was sitting behind the reception desk reading a book.

She saw Fafnir run in, put down her book, and said, "Why are you running? You little mouse, speak slowly."

"Sister Fanning, I'm sorry to bother you. A student at the school is sick and has a high fever. I used my spiritual vision to look at her, and there are black threads moving around inside her body. I've never seen anything like this before."

Sister Fanning stood up and walked out from behind the reception desk: "Black threads? Are you sure?"

"Sure."

"Let's go take a look."

Sister Fanning immediately called upon the grammar school's carriage and, together with Fafnir, headed towards the school for poor children.

"Sister Fanning, what's that?" Fafnir asked on the road.

“I’m not sure,” Sister Fanning said, “but the black thread you mentioned reminds me of something.”

"What is it?"

"Thirty years ago, a strange illness appeared in some areas of the Holy Kingdom. People who fell ill had a persistent high fever, and their spirituality was being devoured by something. In the end, their spirituality was exhausted, and they died. I wasn't there at the time, but my parents participated in that event—"

It was later determined that it was pollution from the spirit world.

When the two arrived at the school, Eileen's condition was worse. Her face was burning red, her lips were cracked and bleeding, and her breathing was more rapid than before. Martha stood anxiously beside her.

Sister Fanning walked to the chaise lounge, reached out and touched Eileen's forehead, then flipped her eyelids, and closed her eyes. Fafnir saw that she had activated her spiritual vision, and silvery-white spiritual threads spread from her fingertips and entered Eileen's body.

About half a minute later, Sister Fanning opened her eyes.

Her face looked very pale.

"Sister Fanning, how is it?" Fafnir asked.

Sister Fanning did not answer immediately; she turned to Martha and said, "Little one, why don't you go out for a moment?"

Martha glanced at Fafnir, who nodded to her, and then Martha pushed open the door and left.

Sister Fanning then spoke: "Little one, you guessed right, it's not an ordinary illness. The black threads in her body are erosion marks caused by spiritual pollution."

17

"pollute?"

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